(1) Field of the Invention
This invention is directed toward the food arts, in particular, toward decorative effects upon foods where food is presented favorably to the consumer in an attractive and ornamental manner. The present invention is designed to simplify certain cutting functions, thereby to enhance consumer appeal, where food may be presented on a banquet or buffet table at the discretion of the chef or caterer in a timely and appealing manner. In particular, the cutting effect is to create a designed cut through shape with a saw tooth/zig-zag outer edge.
(2) Description of Related Art
Others have worked in the art to create decorative cutting effects on fruits and vegetables. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,888,000 is a multi-blade decorative cutter. However, it lacks important utility in that it is designed less broadly, and is useful for particular foods. The outer grip is likely to be slippery when wet, which is a likely occurrence when cutting fruits, making it difficult to cut tougher foods.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,637,116 is a two bladed cutter but lacks the ability to cut evenly for a variety of diameters.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,199,283 is a single blade cutter that is labor intensive and simply takes too long to perform a task when there are a lot of fruit and vegetables to cut.
U.S. Pat. No. 909,145 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,504 are a single long blade that fails to make a pleasing cut because the single blade cannot match to the variety of diameters. The cut will have an awkward place where the cut will be uneven, that is, will have a seam. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 1,504,501 also fails to make a pleasing cut in spite of its flexibility.
These previous designs fail to accommodate the need for a convenient and rapid method of cutting the fruit in the decorative manner desired.